Photographic-plate holder.



A. A. RUTTAN & C. E. HUTCHINGS.

PHOTOGBAPHIC PLATE HOLDER. APPLICATION FILED NGV. 24. 1916.

Patented May 22, 1917.

Ill! llllllllllllll! I I I i l! A i l' l INVENTORS clJ rZesZf/Zagiaflya@Zi2@ Zia) ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED A. RUTTAN AND CHARLES E. HUTCHINGS, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK,ASSIGN- ORS TO EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ACORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 22, 191'7.

' Application filed November 24, 1916. Serial No. 133,115.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, ALFRED A. RUTTAN and CHARLES E. HU'roHINGs, both ofRochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Photographic- Plate Holders; andwe do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification, and to thereference-numerals marked thereon.

The present invention relates to photography and more particularly tophotographic plate holders, and has for its object to provide a simple,cheap and compact device of this character that may be made from stampedsheet metal parts and assembled quickly with both ease and accuracy. Theimprovements are directed in part toward providing an improved means forlocking the sensitive plate in a definite position in the plate holder,and to these and other ends the invention consists in certainimprovements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter morefully described, the novel features being brought out in the claims atthe end of the specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a plate holder constructed inaccordance with and illustrating one embodiment of our invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal or vertical central section through the plateholder, taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1, but on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 1 is a transverse or horizontal section also on an enlarged scale,taken substantially on the line 4.-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged front view of the lower portion of the holder withthe front frame removed to show details of the bolt mechanism forholding the photographic plate in place, and

Fig. 6 is a similar view of the bolt mechanism taken in sectionsubstantially on the line 66 of Fig. 3.

t Similar reference numerals 1n the severalklg figures indicate the sameparts.

and in the present instance 1 indicates the body or back plate ofrectangular form, having turned bottom and side flanges 2 and aforwardly turned top flange 3, the edge of which we prefer to roll at 1to form a pivotal bearing for the straight ends 5 of a small wire bail 6that is provided for the purpose of withdrawing the plate holder fromits seat in the camera body. Disposed against the front of this backplate 1 is an inner plate 7 that may be spot welded to the back plate orotherwise secured in position. It has forwardly extending flanges 8 onall four sides that are spaced quite a distance from the correspondingflanges of the back plate and provide a seat to receive the sensitiveplate P, the proportions of which the seat very closely approximates, asappears from Figs. 3 and l. Preferably the top flange 8 is provided withan inwardly oflset portion 9 (Fig. 3) that overhangs the top edge of theplate, while at the bottom the edge of the latter is engaged by catches10 of a bolt mechanism to be hereinafter described. These devices actingtogether normally prevent the forward displacement of the sensitiveplate, and the said plate is held tightly against them by spring tongues11 that may be struck up from the material of the inner plate 7.

The forward flanges 8 on the inner plate are further extended laterallyoutward to produce further flanges 12 at all sides, and the edges ofthese flanges 12 abut against the marginal flanges 2 and 3 of the backplate 1 to accurately and securely position the inner plate within thebody plate. This is an advantage whether or not the inner plate 7 isspot welded to the back plate 1 during assembling, and it furtherreinforces the flanges of the back plate against inward pressure.

The front of the plate holder is constituted by a front frame 13 havingrearwardly and thence inwardly turned flanges 14 that cooperate with theback plate 1 by engaging over the rear side thereof in rabbets 15. Thereis no flangeat the top of the front flange and it is adapted to beassembled with the back plate by sliding it thereon from the lower end.A nick 16 may be As before indicated, the plate holder of struck in eachside flange 14 of the frame our present invention is more particularldesigned. for construction. from sheet meta to engage a similardepression in the flanges 2 of the back plate to hold the two parts in anormally locked position against sliding disengagement. An exposureopening 17 provided in the front frame 13 as usual registers with theseat 8 of the inner plate 7 A sensitive plate P arranged in the seat 8is normally protected from light by a shutter slide 18 that is removablyand slidably contained between the back plate 1 and the front frame 13and forwardly of the inner plate 7. A uide for the edges of this shutteris provided by the flanges 12 of the inner plate 7, acting inconjunction with offset ribs 19 in the front frame 13 at the margin ofthe exposure opening 17, while light seals 20 and 21 engage therespective faces of the slide near the top where it is inserted. Thefirst of these shields, which is at the rear, is suitably secured upon adepressed portion 22 of the upper flange 12 of the inner plate, as shownin Fig. 3, while the other is secured to the rear face of the upper railof the front frame 13. The upper edge of the shutter slide, which mayalso be of thin sheet metal is rolled at 23 to form a pivotal bearingfor a bail 21 that is used as a handle in inserting and withdrawing theslide. This bail 24 is preferably wider than the bail. 6 on the body ofthe plate holder and comes opposite to it, as shown in Fig. 1, so thatone does not interfere with the other.

The bolt or locking mechanism comprising the catches 10 for holding thephotographic plate P in its seat is confined between the lower flange 12of the inner plate 7 and the back plate 1, and to support it the saidlower flange 12 of the inner plate is formed with rearwardly extendingears or projections 25. The bolt 26 lies above these and carries thecatches 10 which project through openings 27 in the adjacent flangeportion 8. A spring 28 is coiled about a stud 29 on the bolt 26 and itsends rest upon the ears or projections 25. The bolt normally occupiesthe dotted line position of Fig. 5, in which a flange 30 at its upperedge is held against the flange 8 by the spring with the catches 10projecting into plate engaging position within the plate seat, but itmay be depressed to release the catches by the operator by the pressureof a finger upon the central portion of the flange 30, which issufficiently exposed for this purpose through an opening 31 cut into theflanges 8 and 12.

In assembling the device, the bolt 26 may be readily attached to therear of the inner plate 7 by inserting the catches 10 in the apertures27 and engaging the ends of the spring 28 over the ears 25, which holdsthe bolt inposition while the inner plate 7 is being assembled with theback or body plate 1. Thereafter, all that remains to be done is toslide the front frame 13 into position. The plate holder of ourinvention is, therefore, composed of only five distinct parts or units,which may be separately formed complete and then put together accuratelywith rapidity and ease, these parts being the back plate 1, inner plates7, the bolt mechanism 26, the front frame 13 and the shutter slide 18.

e claim as our invention:

1. In a sheet metal plate holder, the com bination with a forwardlyflanged back plate, of an inner plate disposed against the back plateand having flanges on all four sides forming a plate seat, said flangesproceeding forwardly and thence laterally to abut at their edges theflanges of the back plate, and a front cover frame cooperating with theback plate.

2. In a sheet metal plate holder, the combination with a forwardlyflanged back plate, of an inner plate disposed against the back plateand having flanges forming a plate seat, said flanges proceedingforwardly and thence laterally to abut at their edges the flanges of theback plate, and a front cover frame cooperating with the back plate andhaving rearwardly and thence inwardly turned flanges slidablyinterlocking with the latter.

3. In a sheet metal plate holder, the combination with a forwardlyflanged back plate, of an inner plate disposed against the back plateand forming a plate seat, and a front cover frame eoiiperating with theback plate and having rearwardly and thence inwardly turned flangesslidably interlocking with the latter.

4. In a sheet metal plate holder, the combination with a forwardlyflanged back plate, of an inner plate disposed against the back plateand having flanges forming a plate seat, said flanges proceedingforwardly and thence laterally to abut at their edges the flanges of theback plate, a light Seal mounted on one of the laterally turned innerplate flanges, a front cover frame cooperating with the back plate andhaving a light seal on its rear side disposed opposite to that on theinner plate and a shutter slide movable between the light seals and inrear of the front frame to protect the plate seat in the inner plate.

5. In a plate holder, the combination with a back plate, of an innerplate disposed against the back plate and forming a plate seat, one sideof which seat is constituted b a flange proceeding forwardly and thenceoutwardly, and latch mechanism for retaining the edge of the sensitiveplate in the seat, said mechanism being confined between the said flangeand the back plate.

6. In a plate holder, the combination with a back plate, of an innerplate disposed against the back plate and forming a plate seat, one sideof which seat is constituted by a flange proceeding forwardly and thenceoutwardly, and having an aperture therein, and a spring bolt confinedbeneath the said flange on the inner plate and having a catch thereonprojecting through the flange to cooperate with a sensitive plate in theseat.

7. In a plate holder, the combination with a back plate, of an innerplate disposed against the back plate and forming a plate seat, one sideof which seat is constituted by a flange proceeding forwardly and thenceoutwardly, and having apertures therein, rearward projections on theoutwardly extending portions of the flange, a bolt confined beneath thelatter and the back plate and having catches thereon projecting throughthe apertures to cooperate with a sensitive plate in the seat, and aspring on the bolt resting against the rearward projections of theflange.

8. In a plate holder, the combination with a back plate, of an innerplate disposed against the back plate and forming a plate seat, one sideof which seat is constituted by a flange proceeding forwardly and thenceoutwardly and having apertures therein, rearward projections on theoutwardly eX- tending portions of the flange, a bolt confined beneaththe latter and the back plate and having catches thereon projectingthrough the apertures to cooperate with a sensitive plate in the seat,and a spring on the bolt resting against the rearward projections of theflange, the latter being recessed between the apertures to permit thebolt to be depressed with the finger when the catches are to bereleased.

9. In a sheet metal plate holder, the combination with a forwardlyflanged back plate and an inner plate disposed against the front facethereof and having forwardly and thence laterally disposed flangesabutting the flanges of the back plate, and providing a seat for thesensitive plate, of a front frame secured to the back plate and ashutter slidable between the frame and the inner plate.

10. In a sheet metal plate holder, the combination with a forwardlyflanged back plate and an inner plate disposed against the front facethereof and having forwardly and thence laterally disposed flangesabutting the flanges of the back plate, and providing a seat for thesensitive plate, of a front frame secured to the back plate and havingoifset ribs at the margin of its opening, and a shutter slidable betweenthe lateral flanges of the inner plate and the ribs of the front frame.

ALFRED A. RUTTAN. CHARLES E. HUTCHINGS. Witnesses:

LINDA SOHWING, HELEN M. FRASER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

